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The War Against Israel in the Courts Is a Danger to Britain's Armed Forces, Too
(Telegraph-UK) Sir Michael Ellis - The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced he is seeking arrest warrants for Israel's prime minister and defense minister - potentially the first ever arrest warrant to be issued against the leader of a democratic Western nation. In the perverse otherworld view of the ICC, it is Israel's leaders who are seeking "extermination," "intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population" and "starving" civilians. No impartial observer could reasonably conclude that Israeli leaders are committing such heinous crimes. On the contrary, Israel has made extensive efforts to facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza's civilian population, totaling more than 550,000 tons since Oct. 7. What other country is expected to support and sustain those trying to destroy it? But Israel rightly does all this despite the knowledge that Hamas misappropriates much of this aid and despite the presence of terrorists within UN aid facilities in Gaza. The ICC's move is a grotesque overreach. It will have profound implications for the UK and other democratic nations in an increasingly dangerous world. Lawfare and the politicization of armed conflict puts Britain's own Armed Forces at great risk. Terrorist groups and their sympathizers - in tandem with disruptive state actors - are exploiting the very international bodies set up to counter them. South Africa's vexatious case at the International Court of Justice is another alarming example. The ICC move is illegitimate, immoral and beyond the limits of its competence. It violates the Court's charter and integrity. Sadly, we in the West will all be dealing with its consequences for years to come. The writer is a former attorney general for England and Wales.